


Peripeteia

by Yamx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s04e16 The Waters of Mars, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-30
Updated: 2011-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 12:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamx/pseuds/Yamx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How <i>Waters of Mars</i> might have gone had the Master been there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peripeteia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laura_isaac](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Laura_isaac).



> AU after _Last of the Time Lords_ \- the Master lived, and the Doctor did take him with him. Over time, they've come to an arrangement that allows the Master to leave the TARDIS, but the Doctor still keeps a very close eye on him.
> 
> Written as a [stocking stuffer](http://fandom-stocking.livejournal.com/160215.html) for Laura_isaac. Reposted here with minor edits. Thanks to Canaana for the beta.

**  
  
**

**Peripeteia**

 **  
  
**

"Heat! They use water, so we can use heat" The Doctor runs towards the side console, thinking frantically. He can get Adelaide and her team out of her. He knows he can. History be damned. "Works against the Ice Warriors, works against the–"

"Oh no, you don't!" A vice-like hand wraps around his wrist and pulls him back from the controls. "What in the Seventh Circle do you think you're doing?"

"I'm saving these people. Nothing you'd understand!" He tries to wrest his hand free, but the Master is the one person in the room that can match his strength.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" the Master snarls, his satisfied grin entirely unsuited to a physical altercation on a burning planetary base full of deadly parasites. "Like, oh, say, the laws of time?"

The Doctor shakes his head. "I don't care about the laws of time! Gallifrey burned! They all died, and I was left, and you know what that means? The laws of time are mine!"

"I thought _I_ was supposed to be the megalomaniac here?" With his free hand, the Master takes an oxygen tank and smashes it into the computer core. Adelaide and her team jump back as sparks fly everywhere. The lights go out and all machine noise stops.

Yuri moves towards the Master, but Adelaide holds him back, shaking her head.

The Doctor freezes. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" He pushes a few keys with his left hand. No reaction. A swipe with the screwdriver. Still nothing. "You took out the control core. Now there's nothing I can... You've _killed_ them!"

The emergency lights flicker on and paint the room in an eerie green light. It makes the Master look like a cartoony demon from an old Earth movie.

"They were already dead!" The Master shakes the Doctor in frustration. "What has the Universe come to that I'm suddenly the voice of reason in this outfit?" He thrusts his helmet at him. "Put this on. Let's get out of here and let history take its bloody course!"

"Doctor," Adelaide speaks up. "Please, go. There's no reason for you to die with us."

The Doctor swallows. He scans the computer core with the screwdriver again to see if there's anything he can do, but the systems are dead. Completely and utterly destroyed, like everything the Master touches.

He nods. Wordlessly, he puts on his helmet and strides outside, towards the TARDIS. He doesn't look back, but he can hear the Master scrambling after him. It doesn’t take much to imagine the satisfied smirk on his face.

Once again, the Master has killed. Right under the Doctor's nose, he has murdered again. The Doctor feels cold fury gripping his core.

The Master's a threat, and he's finally going to neutralize him. The way he should have after the Darkheart, the way he certainly should have after The Year That Never Was. No more chances. The Master's at his mercy, and he'll find there's none left.

The Valiant will look like a Disney cruise compared to what he'll make the Master live.

The End


End file.
